I MET ONE OF MY FAVORITE BANDS!! | #4 - Concert

And it was fantastic :)

4. Go to a concert - DONE 6/10/14

Some set up is needed.

About a year ago, Rhett and Link (my favorite Youtubers), mentioned a band on their morning talk show, Good Mythical Morning (you should definitely check it out - so funny!). The Show Ponies.

I decide to check them out.
I realize I really like them.
I become a big fan!

Not this

 

This

So I follow them on Facebook, because I like them and want to support them and that's what fans do!  Although it's kind of sad for me because they're on the west coast, so I hear about all the shows they're doing and I can't go to them.
Then a few months ago they announce on their Facebook that they're in a contest to open for Carrie Underwood at the Stadium of Fire! There were four brackets and you needed to win your bracket to be in the final four. I vote for them! Multiple times! AND THEN. I find out that the final four "battle of the bands" is in OREM, UTAH. I basically live there. I vote for them even more and share the link and pray that they'll make it.

 

AND THEY DO!!!! :) :) :) 

Which was even more awesome because then I could make it to at least one of the bands off my people-I-want-to-hear-live list. I really, REALLY wanted to go to The Avett Brothers concert in July in Salt Lake, but it sold out :( If The Show Ponies hadn't made it, I would have been so totally bummed. Although honestly, I didn't care a whole lot if they won the Stadium of Fire contest, I just wanted them to come to Utah so I could hear them live. I'm a selfish fan.

So I buy my tickets as soon as I can! My first concert ever and it's only $4 and five different bands are playing and I barely have to drive five minutes to get there. Could life get any better?!

 

THE DAY COMES. 

And all day it looks like it's going to rain. It's an outdoor concert!! WHY?!! I was nervous all day long, but thankfully the clouds were ominous only. Nothing more than threats! And it turned out to be perfect for the concert, because it wasn't super hot or extremely bright.

Alex Boye was the MC, and while he was energetic and had a cool accent and everything...he was just a little annoying. A bit over the top, you could say. But whatever. I wasn't there for him. Although, we were really close to the stage (look how close!) and I caught a shirt that he threw. 

Yeah. I got a free shirt too! Best concert ever!

The first girl to sing was pretty good, but after hearing the other bands I had forgotten she was in the competition. She did have a really awesome voice though. I believe her name is Belle Jewel.

After her, Allred played. They were so good! And good looking :) I really liked their sound. I would definitely go to another one of their concerts and check out their music. They got me excited for the rest of the concert.

THEN.

THE SHOW PONIES!!!

When they walked out on stage to get all set up...AH!!

Excitement!! I was definitely fangirling a little bit. 

They sang "Baby, I'm in Love with You" first, then they sang "Gone." AH!! Two of my favorite songs on their album!! I sang along to both songs. All the words. AH!! So great :) There was so much energy! You could tell they loved what they do. Andi was dancing around and Phil was just crazy-awesome on that fiddle. They are AMAZING live!!

Finally, they played "Jackson." A bunch of kids started dancing with Alex Boye, and a couple were swing dancing down at the front. People really liked them, which made me very happy. I wanted people to love the Ponies, because I love them.

The last guy to play was Mimi Knowles.

Talk about cool, man. 

He and his band knew what they were doing. And they definitely had some fans. A whole group of people went down to the stage and stood around it, dancing and waving their arms and what not.

It was so fun to listen to them! They didn't beat out the Ponies in my heart, but I am their newest fan. I knew they would win right after they performed, but I still had to vote for the Show Ponies :) 

After the voting happened, 4 other single artists sang for another contest put on by Alex Boye. They were all pretty good, but I didn't really care about it. Someone won and they were excited.

We Are the Strike was the last band to play. They won this same contest last year and they were AWESOME!! (Also, good looking people.)

By the second song we went up to the stage. There was so much energy and it was just a party!! I wish I knew more about them so I could have sung along. 

When they were finished, the Gigg people announced the winner of the contest.

But before they did that....They surprised everyone by saying that the Country Explosion Music Festival (happening in July, also in Utah) wanted to have the runner up of the contest open for Rascal Flatts. And the runner up was...THE SHOW PONIES!!! AH!! :) :) 

Oh yeah, and Mimi Knowles won the contest, so they'll open for Carrie Underwood at The Stadium of Fire. But I had already guessed that they would. I'm just so happy The Show Ponies have this opportunity to do something just as good, if not better! Because in my opinion, it suits them way better than Carrie Underwood and The Stadium of Fire.

When the concert was over, the only thing I could think of was, "I HAVE TO FIND THE SHOW PONIES AND MEET THEM." Yes, in caps. I walked around the back of the stage (even though I probably wasn't supposed to), and eventually ended up back in the front of the stage where I saw Andi, Kevin, and Jason!!! I got their attention and they came down and said hi to me!! They called Phil and Clay and told them to come down to meet me too!!

It was the coolest thing ever. I told them my name, and they recognized it from some comments I've made on their Facebook page! And both Andi and Clay mentioned that they saw me singing along with all the songs and that they wanted to meet me! And all of them gave me a hug and it was so cool!! And when I first met Phil, he was all, "I'm so sorry we only got to play three songs! I wish we could've played more for you!" It was so sweet of him! I wish they could have played more too. If I ever get the chance to hear them live again, I will DEFINITELY be there. I also talked with them about the Rascal Flatts thing. They said that they get to play an entire set instead of just a couple songs, which is what they would have done at SOF if they had actually won. And then I got a picture with them!! (from left: Andi, Clay, Phil, me, Kevin, Jason, photo-bomber)

It was such a great moment. Meeting them. Talking with them. Telling them how much I like them and their music. They're all so nice! And they BASICALLY KNEW WHO I WAS. So cool.

This concert made me want to go to more concerts so bad!! I want to be singing along, dancing, feeling the energy...YES PLEASE!! :)

Music is such an awesome gift we have on this earth. I'm grateful for the happiness it brings into my life. I need to work on building up my musical talent, piano playing especially. Maybe that will be the next list item I'll work on - learning a new song on the piano. And now that this post is super long and a little over a week late, I will be finished! Sorry for all the caps and pictures...I was just a little excited about this post!

Until next time! Good day! :)